Monday, September 26, 2011

Papa and the Bulls--Barcelona's Last Bullfight

By chance the Sunday paper had a review of a new book on Hemingway and this morning I see on Treehugger that Barcelona held its last bullfight.

My impression is Hemingway's reputation started slipping in the late 50's, even before his suicide, and continued to decline until recently.  He certainly loomed large in the early 50's, writing for popular magazines and being a presence.  My first contact with his writing was a bullfight article, though I can't remember where it was published.  One thing which he thought he saw in the bull ring, but left to us all, is: "grace under pressure", his definition of "guts".  The popularity of that phrase is still growing.

No comments: